Various types of car seats are known in the art for restraining an infant or small child in a vehicle and protecting the child during a crash event. One type of car seat is a “convertible” car seat, which may be installed in a vehicle and secured to a vehicle seat in a forward-facing mode or a rear-facing mode, depending on the age and weight of the child. A convertible car seat generally may include a base that is secured to a vehicle seat, a seat shell that is mounted to the base and configured to support a child thereon, and a frame that provides structural integrity for the car seat. The frame generally may include an upper portion that supports an upper portion of the seat shell, and a lower portion that supports a lower portion of the seat shell. When the car seat is installed in the forward-facing mode, the base and the seat shell may orient the child to face the front of the vehicle, and when the car seat is installed in the rear-facing mode, the base and the seat shell may orient the child to face the back of the vehicle.
It is well understood that the forces acting on a convertible car seat during a crash event differ when the car seat is installed in a forward-facing mode as compared to when the car seat is installed in a rear-facing mode. However, certain existing convertible car seats may include a frame that does not adequately manage the energy created during both forward-facing and rear-facing crash events. For example, some existing convertible car seats may include a frame that is designed to optimize energy management when the car seat is in either the forward-facing mode or the rear-facing mode, while sacrificing performance when the car seat is in the other, non-optimized mode. Other existing convertible car seats may include a frame that is designed to balance performance when the car seat is in the forward-facing mode and the rear-facing mode, without providing optimal energy management in either mode. Certain existing convertible car seats may include additional, passive components, such as energy absorption components, that interact with the base, the seat shell, and/or the frame to improve energy management when the car seat is in either the forward-facing mode or the rear-facing mode. However, such additional components may increase the complexity, weight, and/or cost of the car seat and may complicate installation and/or use of the car seat. Moreover, the performance of such passive features may degrade over time and may not provide optimized energy management in the desired mode.